Watching the city come apart piece by piece
Setup is such a slow process, it seems – but the initial cleanup goes very, very quickly. Once the event is over, most people are more than eager to get out of here. We’re all dusty and tired, and lots of us have jobs to get back to. A large chunk of DPW left in the last few days, and more are leaving this week; some are going home, some to New Orleans, some to explore the world. Those of us left here are at least ready to move back to Gerlach where we’ll have water and electricity – though we’ll miss the Commissary’s food.
All of the theme camps are gone now – most disappeared completely, a few reduced to piles of junk waiting for transportation off the playa. Some intrepid burners have stayed here past the event’s end, but BLM will be coming around soon to ticket them for wearing out their welcome. My neighborhood is mostly empty, save a few DPWers and one abandoned RV (brand new!).
In Center Camp, most of the structures are still there and working with skeleton crews, but Lanceland came through today and pulled out everyone’s power supply. Goodbye, Rangers! Goodbye, Lamplighters! Goodbye, Arctica and Recycle Camp! Now it’s just the DPW Depo, the hardy souls at First Camp, and the Cafe.
Cafe itself, easily the most difficult structure to build and by far the most densely populated during the event, is going to take a long time to go away. 
So, it’s hard work, and things are getting a little desolate here. But the funny part is, I almost prefer it this way. I was really enjoying things here before the event started: a small community of people I knew, all working hard for a common cause. Burning Man itself was a wonderful thing, but I’m glad to get back to this little group of dedicated people and see the work through to the end. We’ve lost a fair share of our group to New Orleans (and righteously so), and I think it’ll be rough work, but I’m looking forward to the next month here.
